Wilderness Trip Leader

Camp Nebagamon is looking for exceptional wilderness instructors for our 2025 camping season. Lead multi-day backpacking and canoeing excursions for youth participants. Facilitate wilderness experiences in Quetico Provincial Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and more.

Camp Nebagamon is a traditional, non-profit summer camp located in NW Wisconsin on a beautiful 80-acre campus. Since 1929, Camp Nebagamon has had a strong tradition of fostering love of wilderness in our campers and community members through our wilderness trip offerings. Come join us in the summer of 2025 as we continue to facilitate meaningful and memorable wilderness experiences for our youth.

Our wilderness instructors are supported by a team of administrators and support staff, to assist in packing out and preparing our wilderness trips. Our trip leaders work with a co-leader and will be responsible for the care of seven or eight participants on each wilderness trip. Our trips range in length from 2-14 days. Our trip leaders can expect to lead 5-6 separate wilderness trips, spending approximately thirty-five days in the backcountry over the course of the summer. While not on trail, our wilderness instructors are provided housing and meals on campus.

Our wilderness instructors are responsible for the health and well-being of their participants while leading wilderness excursions. This responsibility entails working through challenging situations in a wilderness setting. Our wilderness instructors are supported by a team of administrators and medical professionals while they are in the field. Our leaders carry satellite phones and are supplied with all of the equipment and resources needed to facilitate wilderness excursions for youth participants.

Additional responsibilities include pre and post-trip briefings, post-trip equipment inventory and maintenance, first aid and medicine administration and pre-trip menu and route planning.

Employment Dates: May 31st, 2025 – August 12th, 2025

Summer salary for first-year wilderness trip leaders starts at $4000.00.

Qualifications

• Experience leading groups of participants in a backcountry setting

• Prior experience working with youth participants at a camp or school

• Menu planning, backcountry cooking skills

• Prior experience administering first aid in a backcountry or extended care setting

• Prior participant on multi-day wilderness expedition

Required Skills

• Must be at least 18 years old

• Must be able to pass a pre-employment background check

• Must be able to carry up to 60 lb pack or canoe for extended periods of time

• Must be able to spend up to two weeks in the backcountry, navigating difficult terrain, at times off-trail and in inclement weather conditions

• Must possess current Wilderness First Responder certification

• Must have current Lifeguard or Wilderness Water Safety certification

Preferred Skills

• Comfortable working with groups of youth participants in a wilderness setting. Conduct conflict resolution when necessary.

• Advanced technical skill sets in wilderness canoe travel and wilderness backpacking

• Strong attention to wilderness risk management practices

• Ability to speak Spanish

About Camp Nebagamon

Camp Nebagamon is hallowed ground to thousands of campers who have been coming here since 1929. Located in northwestern Wisconsin, not far from the shores of Lake Superior in the heart of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, Camp Nebagamon is a traditional boys residential summer camp. Our youngest campers have completed the third grade, and the oldest have finished their freshman year of high school. Campers and staff hail from states all over the nation as well as international destinations. We have approximately 230 campers and 130 staff members, and we offer four- or eight-week sessions.

At Camp Nebagamon, we create a refuge from the real world structured to foster and nurture a boy’s development. Through a tremendous level of daily choice, boys are free to explore different talents, interests, and sides of their personalities. Our goal at Nebagamon is NOT to determine who is the best athlete or canoeist or artist…rather, our goal for every camper is that he enjoys participating and learning.